pastiche
/pæsˈtiːʃ/
"pastiche" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pastiche” is an uncommon English word, ranked #51,905 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #51,905
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist, usually in a positive or neutral way.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pastiche |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pæsˈtiːʃ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #51,905 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pastiche” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for pastiche is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pæsˈtiːʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #51,905 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for pastiche in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Via French pastiche, from Italian pasticcio (“pie, something blended”), from Vulgar Latin *pastīcius, from Late Latin pasta (“dough, pastry cake, paste”), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá, “barley porridge”), from παστός (pastós, “sprinkled with salt”). Doub… The correct English form is pastiche, spelled P-A-S-T-I-C-H-E.
Definition
- 1A work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist, usually in a positive or neutral way.
- 2A musical medley, typically quoting other works.
- 3An incongruous mixture; a hodgepodge.
- 4A postmodern playwriting technique that fuses a variety of styles, genres, and story lines to create a new form.
Etymology
Via French pastiche, from Italian pasticcio (“pie, something blended”), from Vulgar Latin *pastīcius, from Late Latin pasta (“dough, pastry cake, paste”), from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá, “barley porridge”), from παστός (pastós, “sprinkled with salt”). Doublet of pasticcio.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “pastiche”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-S-T-I-C-H-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pæsˈtiːʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.